As always, opinions are my own.
Chris Hogan, author of “Retire Inspired” states “debt is a thief”.
Before starting our Total Money Makeover, I made the decision to borrow believing that I was leveraging - I was using debt services (lines of credit, loans, credit cards, buy now pay later) as a method of achieving that which I couldn’t do without borrowing.
My thesis was simple; if it was to be, it had to be borrowed. It never occured to me that there was another way.
There was a thief in our lives - it was debt. It was pride. It was gluttony. It was comparison - Rachel Cruze states “...comparison is the thief of joy”. We had the Joneses’ outdone and exhausted.
I’ve had folks given a lukewarm reaction to my advice when they’ve reached out to me hoping that I had discovered a debt freedom magic bullet.
They’re lukewarm because they’re not hungry enough yet. No problem, maybe you’ll be hungry in a few thousand dollars.
We haven’t had a credit card in a year. We haven’t had lines of credit in almost a year. We’ve had emergencies which we’ve floated in cash, we did projects (sheds are expensive! Moving is expensive!) all with cash.
We’ve discovered a simple truth (thanks Chris Hogan!) debt is a thief.
My family day challenge is this - the next time you’re faced with a situation that would normally leave you reaching for a credit card, don’t. How else can you solve this problem? What about waiting? What about fixing it later? How long would it take to save up for the issue, and what would you have to do to your budget to achieve that? More hours? Eating at home more? Overtime? Second job?
Get hungry. Banks have big buildings, we don’t. They’re not hungry. They’re ravenous. And they’re eating well.
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